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Badland winches - Harbor Freight? Are they junk?

679K views 193 replies 126 participants last post by  fishinfool88 
#1 ·
See Harbor Freight is pimping their new line of Badlands winches, anyone used one? Are they junk, or good to go. I assume not for hardcore, but would one work for a tow rig?
 
#49 · (Edited)
#148 ·
#50 · (Edited)
winch almost installed

I built the winch and tested it by hooking it up to my tj battery and it worked great, so I built a mount for it for my trailer and I can also install it on the tow hitch of my truck if needed. I now just have to wire it up so I juat bought a couple of 30 foot rolls of black and red 4 ot wire from pep boys for $30.00 a roll and also ordred a connector that is waterproof and has a cap online for $30.00.
 
#57 ·
I built the winch and tested it by hooking it up to my tj battery and it worked great, so I built a mount for it for my trailer and I can also install it on the tow hitch of my truck if needed. I now just have to wire it up so I juat bought a couple of 30 foot rolls of black and red 4 ot wire from pep boys for $30.00 a roll and also ordred a connector that is waterproof and has a cap online for $30.00.
Looks great on there.

btw, where did you find that clear spare tire? :flipoff2:
 
#51 ·
Some people may not be able to afford an expensive winch, so I would rather see them have a winch made by a 12 year old Chinese kid than no winch (if those are really the options). I personally have only used Warn and Ramsey without a failure (and yes, I know they fail too sometimes)...but nothing seems to clog the trail more than the guy with no winch at all with his buddies trying to manuver and strap and winch him out.

So bottom line...buy the best you can afford (I feel like all the Chinese ones are probably similar, but have no testing to back that up)...just have one.
 
#52 ·
Just a heads up in the latest issue of Petersen's 4wheel there is a harbor freight coupon for the 9000 lb badland winch for $249.99

coupon code: 20861456
The coupon appears to work online as well.
 
#53 ·
i had a warn x9000di for a few years and lately have been running a 8000lb harbor freight one off my car trailer on my s10 with 33s. so far i dont notice not one difference. except the harbor freight one is way slower. for a third of the price really isnt that bad of a winch
 
#54 ·
I've been strongly considering snatching up a small badland winch for a front suck down winch on the TJ. What could go wrong... :laughing:



Eh... for the price I figure it would at least be a cheap way to suck down the front end for as long as it lasted.

My dad has one of the cheapo HF camo winches in his shop all ripped apart and he informed me of the quality of the bearing and gears in said winch. I don't know if the camo one was a badland winch, but that particular winch didn't sound like it would last through a whole lot of abuse.
 
#56 ·
i recently bought a viper 9500 (motoalliance.com) i got it for 340.00 i think? with a winch cover, snatch block, remote control, a pair of leather gloves and a storage bag. I had a viper on my side by side so I figured I would give it a shot.
I put it on a HARD HARD pull saturday with the cable spooled all the way out and the front bumper on the truck pushing heavy thick mud (so thick you could walk on it)
The only problem I have with it is that it is hesitates in reversing when you have a heavy load on it.
Again as mentioned above, It LOOKS identical to many of the other ones out there.
 
#59 ·
I think it was petersons mag that did a comparison between 8 winches and the one from summit and the one from harbor frieght failed to work out of the box
Warn placed first of course but they were comparing a pricy $1400 warn against those cheapo winches which doesnt make sense to me

If i were to go with a cheap winch id probably go with the smittybuilt as the lowest i'd go. know a couple people with them that havnt had issues

I'm in the process of getting a m8000 right now for the runner
 
#61 ·
I think it was petersons mag that did a comparison between 8 winches and the one from summit and the one from harbor frieght failed to work out of the box
Warn placed first of course but they were comparing a pricy $1400 warn against those cheapo winches which doesnt make sense to me
the super winch and t-maxx where both $1000. warn wasn't the only pricy one they tested. but with the HF going for 50% off of their listed price it's way less than the others. and with the warranty available they could have gotten a working one. same with the summit one that caught fire. lol.

what i don't get is how the warn pulled the shortest distance, blew it's self up, and was the most expensive by 40% and still won.
 
#63 ·
I'm not too quick to beleive much that's posted in petersens. Ya, i have a subscription... But it seems like the whole mag is advertising for this or that. The seem to outline and emphasize company's... Don't get me wrong, i love the magazine, but it just seems a little convenient that two of the cheaper winches didn't work...

and, if it wasn't petersens that did that comparison, then i'm sorry for the rant ha ha...But the same holds true for most of the 4x4 mags.
 
#66 ·
New 6000 lb HF winch, First run video i took..

Straight out of the box. 3 hours later it yanked my Jetta TDI up no sweat, barely off the 5th spool so it seems to have plenty of energy. My Jetta is listed at 4034lbs curb weight (which seems heavy for that car, but it is a diesel).
Paid $250 for the winch at Harbor Frieght, another $90 for a 700CCA battery, and $12 for a battery box. For what I have and what it does, it's a helluva bargain.

Only problem I had was VW puts their tow hook under the side vent, so the cable retracted on one side and bunched up. I was able to back it out, then respool by hand no problemo.

watch the first run; new Badlands 6K winch, first run - YouTube
 
#67 ·
last week I got the Badlands 5k for a suck down on my comp rig. It came with the exact same controllers, wiring, and relays as my warn 3500 did. It worked perfect all day at the first comp. Its a little bigger than a normal atv winch, and much smaller than a short drum 9k winch. IMO its the perfect suck down winch. $200 with a 2 year no questions asked warranty. So far it has out lasted my warn 3500 in the same application. Time will tell.
 
#68 ·
if I may... I bought my HF/Badlands 12,000# winch about a month ago...






from when I was mocking up and testing the winch on my car trailer.







using it to upright an 8 year old flowering plum tree that got knocked over by the recent hurricane passage.





using the wife's car to respool the line afterwards.




how it's mounted to the jeep when I use it (need to get a different hitch though... receiver tube is just too far recessed for my liking now. or I need to get a different winch plate.)

So far it's worked fine on everything I've asked of it.
 
#69 ·
I ran an old Chico electric 8000lb jobber for a couple years. I traded a set of bald 31s and rims for it. When The solenoids started getting flaky, I picked up a used m8000.

I made a bunch of long hard pulls on that old thing, and it served me very well. But I am happier with the warn, as I progress to running harder trails and needing it a little more often...
 
#73 ·
For the Warn? 399~ + tax.

For US made and a good warranty, I am content with that.

I almost opted for the smittyblt 8k with synthetic, but after seeing some pictures of corroded solenoids in new out of the box units I really question the QC on them.
 
#76 ·
Good price on the warn, where did you find it?
 
#78 ·
I just sold my old and well used Road Shock 10K winch... I had absolutely no issues with it. At one point, myself and another truck were wheeling the lead mine side of Mt Kearsarge in NH, We got to several points where it was winch walk or turn back. I was the only one with a winch so I winched my way through the march then up a 300' very steep muddy hill strewn with large bones. I made it in three hitches to the top. Once there, I turn around, anchored my truck with two come alongs and winched my buddy up from where he finally got stuck trying to make the hill. It was in the 90s, mud was flying everywhere. That roadshock pulled me out of four deadenders with zero problems. Sense then I used it to skid trees, pull my buds jeep out of a swamp, pulled a tree off a house after Irene stormed through the state... I sold it to a logger and he says he beats the living snot out of it and it still won't quit. I just installed a new Badlands 12K on the Bronco. It went in in about 45min. Can't wait to put it through the ringer.

What pisses off the Warn, Milemarker and the rest is.... the roadshock came in third in a brutal battle of the winches. The comments were, it didn't know when to quit, and used less amps doing it.

If you feel the need to spend big coil on a name plate, that's your business. But if you want a low cost dependable winch that will do everything you want it to, then take a close look at the Bad Lands winches. If they're half what the road shock was, I'll be psyched. Beside you can take the extra cash you saved and buy a fully loaded recovery kit... like I did :smokin:

Jager
 
#79 ·
I have a HF 2000 lb winch I picked up for $40 on sale and have been using on a truck crane for the past year. I've moved multiple fully dressed dana 60's and a single pull fully dressed 460, C6, and NP205, which has to weight 750 lbs or more. When it was new and run to 1/0 gauge jumpers it would moved the heavy stuff no problem. I installed permanently "1/0" cheap wiring (the insulation is thick and the actual wire is maybe 4 gauge, disappointing), and now it will move most things under 400 lbs single pull but I hooked up a sheave and double it up to move the motors and stuff now, but its still pounding. I keep a cover on it when not in use but its out in the elements and stuff. I'm pretty happy with it. I bought a 3000 lb winch when they were closing out the old style winches (it was like $30?) and thought I'd have to use it to replace the little 2000 lb one before too long, but its still holding up for now. I would not hesitate to try one of their more expensive ones. As for what people keep saying about warn and the other more expensive winches, well, the peterson test should prove that any winch can break... you shouldn't have all your eggs in one recovery basket and you probably shouldn't put yourself in a situation where an electric winch is all that keeps you from having to walk out. I keep a variety of straps, a chain hoist, a come along, jack, etc. They aren't as easy to use as a winch but they are useful and its always good to have a manual back up.
 
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